A Thin Line
by DreamSummoner
Summary: [Revised]There's a thin line in everything: love&hate, reality&illusions, rebellion&revolution. It's man vs wolf but is there something more to that relationship than meets the eye? Is a civilized wolf still a wolf? Are we fighting for paradise or purity?
1. Prelude

Caine frowned, reading a piece of paper tacked to the bulletin board. It was littered with other papers - shopping lists, coupons - but this small, round notice was new. Discontented, she returned to the table, slipping into her seat between Kiba and Hige. "Yea, that memo it weird... Did she explain anything when you asked?" she said, picking up her cards and accepting the two Tsume handed her.

Hige rubbed his nose without realizing it and before picking a card from his hand; he slid it face-down on the table to Tsume. "One," he mumbled, before answering the she-wolf. "Huh? Oh, she's just rewriting it."

"You mean the whole thing?" she asked.

Tsume slid a new card back to Hige and discarded two of his own. "Dealer takes two," he said. "I talked to her too, and she said she didn't like where it was going, or some shit..." He took two cards and smirked, looking up at Hige like a hungry predator; Hige was too absorbed in his cards to notice.

"Christ," Caine scowled, pointing to Toboe. "Watch your language, maybe?"

"You're not much of a role model either," Tsume smirked; amused when, instead of retorting, she stuck her tongue out at him. "What'll it be, Kiba?" he asked the quiet wolf.

Kiba gave his cards a last scrutinizing look before tossing them onto the table. "This game is pointless," he concluded.

Curious, Caine turned them over. "Kiba!" she nearly screamed, her hand recoiling as if bitten. "That's a flush! What are you doing?" Kiba, however, didn't appear phased by this revelation.

"The game's pointless. There's no skill needed to win, just luck," he said matter-of-factly, reaching under his chair for the book he had hidden.

Hige slapped his hand to his face in exhaustion. "That's the point, Kiba! It's a game, it's just for fun!"

Kiba didn't respond, instead he opened up a small, battered copy of Analects of Confucius and began reading.

Tsume rolled his eyes and took Kiba's cards, adding them to the discard pile. Toboe looked up from the popcorn bowl with a confused look; apparently he hadn't been paying much attention. "Tsume, I wanna play!"the pupwhined, putting the now-empty bowl of popcorn on the table and making big eyes at the gray wolf.

"You're too young," the elder wolf said dismissively, seemingly absorbed in his cards. Toboe pouted.

Caine laid out her cards. "Three queens," she smiled smugly. Hige cursed.

With everyone's attention elsewhere, and Kiba absorbed in his book, Toboe reached out a furtive hand to take the pile of cards next to Tsume's elbow. He smiled deviously, pulling the cards back and looking through his catch under the table.

"Two tens," Hige sighed, lying his cards down in defeat. Caine and Tsume smiled down upon the weak pairof cards.

"Well, since Kiba folded, it looks like I win," Tsume said pompously, laying his cards down as well, each with a nice little flick. He reached out to pull the pile of chips towards him. Caine watched the white and red tokens recede across the table with a look of unexpected defeat across her face; Hige gave Tsume a murderous look. "That's the third time!"he cried out, covering his eyes with his hands.

"Hey..." Toboe said, drawing all the poker-players attention to him. "If there are two aces here, then how come Tsume has three?" he asked, showing the aces of hearts and spades to the other wolves.

"You cheat!" Hige yelled angrily- and somewhat triumphantly -jumping up from the table.

Caine growled, moving around to the other side of the table, the steely look in her eyes making Tsume slightly nervous.

"Hey, don't you think you're overreacting?" Tsume said, in an unconvincing attempt to appease them. "It's just a game, right?"

Wth a warcry, Hige lunged at Tsume, who dived from the chair, sliding behind the couch. Caine tackled the gray wolf as he tried to escape, and pinned him down swiftly by twisting his arm. Kiba looked up from his book, highly amused by the other's reactions, yet even more convinced that poker was pointless. Toboe cheered her on while Hige tried to detangle himself from the chair. Caine fought to get the other cards Tsume had hidden in his jacket, and ended up getting flipped and pinned. Someone knocked on the door, but because of the yells no one heard it. The door opened, squeaking slightly, and the wolves turned to see Kai, followed by Xeroeda and Raven. "Hey guys, we brought-" Kai stopped mid-sentence, a sly grin forming on her lips. "What are Tsume and Caine doing on the floor?"

There was silence before Caine blushed, realizing that they looked like a couple fooling around. She made an annoyed growl, shaking her head as if trying to shake the red off her face. Tsume however, found the whole situation highly amusing.

"You know you wanna," he said, in an overly-seductive voice, which earned him a smart punch on the shoulder. He was still smirking after Caine got up and snatched the boxes of Papa John's pizza from a grinning Kai, who skipped after her into the kitchen. Xeroeda and Raven sat at the table and laughed as Kai's mentioning of "very jealous fangirls" had Caine chasing her around the apartment with a plastic knife.

Tsume and Hige, who was keeping the gray wolf under a watchful eye, collected the disrupted cards and replenished everyone's poker-account by handing out chips. Raven made sure Toboe was included this round, and later on in the night ended up teaching Hige card tricks when they both lost all their chips. Xeroeda played poker admirably well, but found the conversation she and Kiba were holding throughout the game -which started after she noticed the book he was reading - to be more interesting. Kai and Caine, after they finished running around the apartment, and giving out pizza and soda, combined their pool and dominated the game; that was until Toboe started his seemingly never-ending winning streak.

"Did you guys get DreamSummoner's notice?" Raven asked, looking up from the cards she had fanned out in front of her, having told Hige to pick one.

"Yea," Hige said. "We were talking about it before you came."

"And before you attacked Tsume," Kiba stated matter-of-factly, which brought another round of angrily looks and laughter to the table.

The wolves began talking about what they thought would happen to the story: whether new characters would appear, if old friends would disappear, if events would play out the same, or if there would be a change in appearances or personalities. They continued on, eventually drifting off into different topics. Toboe fell asleep on the couch, followed by Raven, who had had a hard day at work. Xeroeda and Kiba's conversation stemmed from Confucius and on into politics and current events. After Caine and Kai's coalition ended, the red wolf and Hige started talking about pranks to play on the others. Tsume and Caine were left to clean up, and ended up spending the rest of the night talking in the kitchen.

The open window brought in a refreshing breeze, shifting the notes on the bulletin board. A small, round piece of paper slipped off and descended slowly to the ground. The moonlight streaming in from the window shone on the glittering ink. The quick, slanted writing read:

**Dear Cast and Readers of A Thin Line,**

As I am no longer allowed to address the readers in person, I will act through my characters, which, I suppose, I always do.

The previous chapters of A Thin Line have been removed. While typing the old story, I realized I was losing focus on what I wanted to portray and after months of school, assignments, contemplation and frustration, I've finally made a new structure for the new story to follow.

Questions? Contact me. All ways of this are available via my profile. Miss the old version? Very touching. Contact me.

I apologize a thousand more times for my lack of communication and updating. Bad sideaffect from that thing called...oh what was it...oh, responsibilites.

**Undoubtedly Yours,**

**DreamSummoner**


	2. Chapter 1: Pertendere

(Apr.18.06)

Sorry this took so long! I'm a horrible updater, I'll admit it... (sigh) Anyway, I hope you like it. I worked hard on it. I hate introductions...

* * *

**I**

It had been a few days since the wolves left the city; away from the cold, lost eyes of the humans. Walls changed to horizons, domed ceiling to endless sky - the journey was beginning. The wolves, as different as their kind could be, handled their destination differently. However, none was more devoted than the white wolf, who was consistent in his determination, having been spurred by the kidnapper. His refusal to yield was both inspiring and distressing. The gray was wary of where he placed his trust, and rarely bestowed this blessing on anyone; constantly at attention, he did most of the questioning. The two browns shared their enthusiasm, although the smaller brown's was greater in degree. The laidback, larger brown tended to let fate make most of his decisions and therefore, was mostly interested to see where the odd group would take him. The smaller one, who had yet to find his grip on any kind of reins, found positives in almost everything and was taken by the slightest thing; he did most of the asking.

The good weather didn't last for long after leaving the human city. The calm, gentle snowfall turned harsh and biting with the coming of strong storm winds. Soon, the wolves were blinded by the thick veil of snowfall. The land changed from flat, smooth plain to jagged, uneven rock.

Kiba took the lead; jumping down small ledges and snaking through narrow crevasses. He had experienced this sort of travel when traveling to the human city. Skilled in finding snow-covered crevasses, he often found ways around them. Tsume became adept in finding them as well. Hige kept an ear out for unwelcome guests. Toboe wasn't able to help much, due to his sheltered upraising. The young wolf instead concentrated on his own physical strength and endurance, and learning all he could from the older wolves. The party made a short, zigzagging trail through the sharp, twisting maze.

"Oy, Kiba!" The white wolf paused and turned, wind pushing his fur into his yellow eyes. Hige clamored up the steep, almost stair-like slope. "Kiba," he said breathlessly. "I smell wolves."

Kiba tried to ignore the sudden plummet in his stomach. "Where?" he asked, ears shifting; he turned to scan the horizon for a sign.

"Somewhere ahead of us," Hige said, squinting in the wind. Kiba felt himself automatically brace against a strong gust of wind.

"What's going on?"

Kiba turned, Hige mimicking him, to see Tsume. There was a slight hint of fatigue in his voice; however his eyes still held their keen sharpness.

Toboe came up close behind, squinting immediately at the increased force of wind. Kiba suppressed the guilt twisting in his gut, and made a mental note to find shelter soon.

"Hige smelt wolves," he said simply, sifting his gaze from Toboe back to the gray wolf.

"Are we gonna avoid them? Or just sit here and wait?" Tsume asked, annoyance creeping into his eyes and voice.

Kiba hesitated, thinking.

"Hige, do you know how many wolves there are?" he asked, after a while.

Hige sniffed the air. The wolves watched him, waiting anxiously. "More than us," he said after a moment, lowering his nose from the air. "But not by much."

"Let's go," Kiba said turning from the group and crossing over a long rock suspended over a deep gorge.

"So, we're gonna confront them?" Tsume shouted after him, in a tone that expressed he didn't expect an answer. He watched the white wolf depart through narrowed eyes and growled in annoyance.

"It'll be safer," Hige stated. "This isn't anyone's territory. I doubt they'll attack us."

"You _doubt_," Tsume sneered before crossing the bridge and following Kiba, who was disappearing around a corner.

"You sure it will be safer, Hige?" Toboe asked, shifting his big eyes from Tsume to the brown wolf.

"Yup," he said, following Tsume before he could slip around the corner and out of sight. "This way we won't be attacked from behind," he said knowingly, crossing the bridge with the pup close behind.

* * *

The chilled wind carried a familiar scent to her nose, waking her from sleep so quickly it was as if she had not been truly resting. She stood quickly, shaking her rust-on-cream-colored fur free of snow in the same motion, and slinked out from the small alcove, hidden by two large rocks. She felt the bitter wind and snow on her fur and winced; she was fortunate enough to have found the hidden shelter when she did; injured, exhausted, and lost - an easy target. The valuable time she had spent there - cleaning wounds, regaining her strength, and strategizing - wasn't refundable; she had to keep moving. 

She knew the strong winds would have carried their scent long before they could. That was beneficial on her part - being able to detect things before they could see her. Her scent would be hidden, until she started heading south again; then she would be behind them. The distance she would put between them and she would be enough; they had a larger party and needed more time to move and rest. If she went back without resting, she would outrun them.

She moved quietly through the gorge, going over her plan in her head, making sure she could make it back in time. She knew it was a stretch, making it back without resting or food - maybe if she was lucky she would be able to find some easy prey - but she would rather starve than die by their fangs.

A different scent hit her nose, stopping her movements. She immediately recognized it as male wolves, somewhere between her and her enemy. Her eyes narrowed. _This will change everything_, she thought with a grimace, and began running through the chasm.

* * *

Kiba ran quietly, deftly avoiding rocks and pitfalls. He could hear Tsume and the others following him, and made sure to maintain the slower pace set for them. The scent of the foreign wolves had gotten stronger, and he knew any minute they would run into them. 

The pack was silent; the only sound coming from the howling wind and the soft sound of paws on snow. He turned a sharp corner and skidded to a halt, the sight halting all movement. It was them.

The pack was larger, but not by much. _Around seven,_ Kiba thought, as he quickly counted the wolves. _Both male and female._ They were a motley pack; their fur and sizes covering a wide range - a pack of strays; the only thing they shared in common was the freshly healed wounds. One tough-looking brown had deep gashes across his nose, deforming his features; another one had a large portion of her ear missing. They looked like they had gotten into a vicious fight, but Kiba could smell no blood anywhere else but on them. The alpha stood separate from the rest - a vanguard. He was black, grayish tuffs of fur showing on his ears, belly, and paws; his dark eyes quickly narrowed on Kiba's. A long, thin scar traveled from his ear, down to his shoulder.

Tsume caught up with Kiba. He also stopped short - almost running into Kiba - when he saw the other pack. Hige and Toboe followed in the same manner. The other pack regarded them in the same manner they did Kiba, with silent, blank stares. The silence was broken by the black wolf.

"You don't see many wolves up and about anymore, do you?" he asked Kiba. His voice was smooth, confident, elegant; it made Kiba's skin crawl.

"Not really," he answered just as coolly.

"I'm looking for a member of my pack," he said, "We got separated. Her fur is an off-white color, with light brown shading; a black nose and red eyes."

"...red eyes?" Hige mumbled in a disbelieving voice too low to be heard by anyone but him.

"Have you seen her?" the black wolf continued.

"No." Kiba answered. _What the hell is going on?_

"If you do," he continued, "could you tell her that Garrick is looking for her?"

Kiba's eyes narrowed. "If we see her," he said. He didn't want to start a fight, or make any promises. A wolf started, and Kiba's eyes went to the dark gray wolf, standing behind the black. No one else noticed.

The black wolf smiled. He seemed satisfied; the sudden flair of smug attitude had Kiba's fur on end. "I didn't catch your names," he said.

"We didn't give them to you."

The black's ears shifted, his eyes narrowed. He studied at Kiba in silence, his dark gaze shifting from Tsume, to Toboe, to Hige, before resting on him again. He turned to the wolf behind him, "Go."

The wolf, whom Garrick had ordered, leapt up on the rocks piled beside the small path Kiba and the others were traveling, and ran the length, moving quickly and landing behind them, followed by a majority of the pack, leaving Kiba, Tsume, Hige, and Toboe alone with Garrick and a few other wolves, including the dark gray.

"Tell her I'll find her," he said and jumped up on the other side of the path, running along the top even after most of the pack had descended. Among those to remain on top was the dark gray.

Kiba watched them disappear into the snowy veil, an image of a set trap flashing through his mind.

* * *

Tsume: DreamSummoner says that the chapters will be shorter for quicker updates. 

Toboe: Yay! I love quicker updates!

Tsume: Why are you always so damn peppy?

Toboe: I dunno! Why aren't you!

Tsume: I hate Easter...


	3. Chapter 2: Vindicare

(Apr.20.06)

I got no new reviews for the last chapter. I'm sad...Hopefully I'll get some for this one... I stayed up til 3am typing, all of a sudden the words started flowing so naturally, and I was all: "I should go to bed, but...I...can't!"

Read, enjoy, and review.

* * *

**II**

Kiba knew that seeing things - seeing as in using the eyes you were born with - was only half of true vision. Hige told him that humans thought wolves had special powers. Like with many things, Kiba wasn't sure what to think about that. Humans made his blood boil, anything having to do with them: their prejudices, their thirst for death, their ignorance, their greed, their social structures, their lack of pride...everything. Humans, he knew, saw a lot but never truly saw anything. Truly seeing required instinct; he didn't know what happened to the humans, but somewhere in the long, distant past they lost their vision.

Humans believed whatever garbage they heard, and after a while, they would forget what was true. Everything about humans was warped; clothes, machines, money, and cities weren't natural. Everything the humans touched warped and corrupted. That was a main reason Kiba didn't like his human form. The first time he met Hige, he swore that he would never be like him, that he would never use his human form, but surprisingly enough Hige taught him a valuable lesson. Although being in his human form was always unsettling, he needed it to be around humans. They believed what they saw.

Maybe humans were redeemable. Even if they were, Kiba didn't think he'd given them that chance. They always re-proved themselves to be the scum of the earth.

* * *

"Kiba, when are we gonna stop!" Hige panted. It was the dregs twilight, more black then light, and the weather was picking up, throwing hail into their faces instead of the usual helpings of snow and wind. "I mean, there's no fire!" Hige yelped as he almost lost his footing on a patch of ice. "But there's ice! I almost slipped on some ice, Kiba! And that would be a pretty long drop if I actually did fall! Why do you always pick such dangerous places to travel in such dangerous weather! And it's cold weather, too, Kiba! Did you know that? It's really cold out and--" 

Kiba stop listening to Hige's continued babble; he would never stop. Besides, there was nothing in sight yet that could be used for shelter, and they couldn't just stop out in the open.

"Toboe!" Tsume called back, shouting above the swirling winds. "Keep up! You're going to fall behind!" He shook his fur to stop the hail from settling. Since when had he become the runt's guardian? Toboe obviously couldn't take care of himself out here, but Tsume didn't have a parental streak in him, or at least that's what he told himself. Besides, Toboe usually just pissed him off, especially when he whined. Tsume hated whining.

"I'm hurrying!" Toboe whined; if he could have stopped and pouted he would have, but it was a little too cold to be dramatic. He willed his legs to move faster, but he couldn't seem to ignore the sting of the ice and winds. _How can Kiba and Tsume move so quickly when it's so cold!_

How far had it been since they met the last pack? Most of the sharp rocks that had dominated the landscape had disappeared, but now they were climbing some mountain...or a really, really large rock. Toboe sighed, exhausted even thinking about whatever they were trying to climb over. Toboe grumbled and quickened his pace, moving quickly around a rock.

And that's when it happened. He slipped, and try as he might his claws couldn't dig into anything to stop his progress. He felt the ground slid out beneath his back paws, and suddenly found himself clinging to the side of the ravine in his human form. He hadn't even realized there was a drop here. _Why am I thinking about this?_ he thought. _Shouldn't I be screaming...or something?_ _And where did all the noise go? Why can I only hear my heartbeat?_

His fingers, despite the mere seconds they were exposed in this inclement weather, became frozen and useless. He felt something warm brush them, and looked up, but he had already let go. The last thing he saw was Tsume's hand reaching out to him.

* * *

His name died on his lips, the figure vanished, and the memories flashed before his eyes. The familiar, unwanted feeling he had so forcefully pushed away was now coming back tenfold. 

He had tried, and failed. He had let another life, that same damned kind of life, slip right through his outstretched fingers. Doubt, guilt, blame, responsibility; he didn't want to feel that right now. He needed to do something; this couldn't end the same way.

Changing into his wolf form, he ripped his way past the other two, ignoring their calls. He charged forward, recovering quickly from sliding on ice patches and jumping deftly over rocks and crevasses. He was going to find a way down, and he was going to find Toboe even if it killed him.

* * *

The she-wolf jumped back, heart pounding, already instinctively changed into her human form with her hands braced to defend herself. The shape didn't move, however; it remained perfectly still; a black, misshapen form in the dark gray shadows of snow. She edged closer on her toes, ready to jump back at any time, her breaths coming in at slow intervals. 

It was a wolf. She couldn't recognize him by sight, but she had caught his scent before; he was one of the wolves from the other pack. Curious, she moved in closer for a better look, her hands lowering and relaxing, and felt her heart twist, a sensation she wasn't expecting.

_He's so young._ Why was he out here? She looked up, but unfortunately she couldn't tell the walls of the ravine apart from the blackness of the sky; both were dark and stormy. The scent of the other pack was faint, however; they were definitely somewhere nearby.

_Did they leave him here, or did he fall?_ Her previous indifference to the motives of this foreign pack quickly disintegrated into curiosity. Before, she had only cared about whether or not they knew who she was, but now she wanted to know who they were. _What the hell are they doing out here anyway? Nobody travels this way anymore, on foot anyway._

She moved her hand so it hovered over the young wolf's mouth. _He's still breathing; quite well actually, considering the fall he just took._ She prodded and felt for broken bones before sliding her hand underneath him and hefting the pup's weight onto her shoulders. She continued on her selected course, but changed her goal from escaping to finding shelter.

A nagging voice in the back of her head told her all about how this young wolf was a liability; she would never make it back in time with this weight on her shoulders. However, she knew that if she had left him, she would never be able to rid herself of the guilt; and that would have weighed so much more.

The wind, however, certainly wasn't helping her situation.

* * *

"Tsume! Ugh, where the hell do you think he's going?" Hige panted in aggravation. They had all been shocked and stunned by Toboe's fall, but Tsume's silent and violent response made the ordeal rather chaotic. 

"I have no idea," Kiba responded frankly, "I've never seen him this way before."

"Yea, well...Tsume's full of surprises," Hige said bitterly. Both he and Kiba were trying to follow the gray wolf, but with the weather it was hard to see him, especially considering how fast Tsume was moving. They were afraid of losing him to the storm as well. How could they find Toboe if they were in danger of killing themselves?

"I think he's trying to find a way to Toboe," Kiba said.

Hige didn't respond right way. He really didn't like guys like Tsume; the arrogant, macho, tough-guy routine wasn't something he found particularly pleasing. But maybe he wasn't giving Tsume a fair chance, not that the guy had ever really offered anything to redeem himself, but maybe there really was more to Tsume than the superficial coating of black leather.

Maybe...but that still didn't explain his reckless behavior, it was too sudden and too much for something like this.

"I'm not sure," he said simply. It was the honest truth.

"I don't think there's any other explanation," Kiba said logically.

* * *

Toboe awoke, and the first thing he did was squint his eyes shut again. _Too bright._ When he opened them again, the blurry vision of a fire came into focus. _A fire. Oh, that's nice. It's really warm..._ And he closed his eyes again in comfort. _Wait a minute._ And opened them again in alarm, struggling to get up. A hand pressed down on his shoulder, firmly but gently pushing him down. It was easy; he was completely drained of any kind of strength to put up a proper struggle. 

"Easy now," said a voice behind him; it was oddly soothing. "I just used a majority of my wrappings on your wounds. If you start bleeding again and I run out there's nothing I can do for you."

"Where am I?" he managed to mumble. He felt like had been thrown down a couple of flights of stairs. _And it's really not that inaccurate,_ he thought bitterly. He had a massive headache.

"In a small cave, kinda far from where I found you, but not really."

"Who are you?" he managed to turn his head to get a look at the owner of the voice. She was a female, older than he, probably Kiba's age; her eyes shone an inhuman blue-green, absorbing the firelight.

"You're a wolf," he said.

"Yep," she answered. "I'd get some rest if I were you. I'm planning on leaving as soon as possible."

"I'm going with you?" he asked, letting himself fall back into his original position.

"I was planning on it. I can't exactly leave you out here like this."

"I have to find my friends," he said, closing his eyes.

"You mean your pack?"

"Yea...Tsume, Kiba, and Hige..."

There was no reply. Toboe slipped peacefully into a deep, dreamless slumber.

* * *

"Wake up." 

Toboe opened his eyes again. The fire from last night was nothing more than black char, which was currently being buried. The girl from last night was throwing the last bits of wood into a hole and filling it with snow.

"Here, eat this," she said, handing him two long strips of tough, dried meat after she was finished.

"Umm..." Toboe started, holding the food in his hands.

"What is it?" she asked, looking back at him.

"It's just that...well...I don't know you name," he said, embarrassed.

She looked surprised, and then smiled. "It's Caine."

"Oh, I'm Toboe," he said, happier now that they had been formally introduced.

After he finished eating, he followed her out of the small cave, which turned out to be under a bunch of rocks which had fallen just the right way, so that they could be used as a shelter. It was a clear morning, still gray. The winds were calm, but it was still cold.

Toboe took a better look at his rescuer. She had straight light-brown hair, which fell down to the tops of her shoulders in a choppy manner. She was wearing an unusual black body suit, with a thick white stripe going up the sides. The material looked strong and durable, but was ripped in various places with what might have been a knife. She had a thick black belt with pockets and compartments attached; a knife was hanging at her side, and she was wearing black, knee-high, lace-up boots. It was a stark outfit, and Toboe wondered why it looked so much like a uniform.

"Something wrong?" she asked, her hazel eyes looking concerned.

"No," he responded; she didn't seem satisfied with his answer, as she let out a short breath, and scratched the back of her head, as if uncertain.

"You mentioned last night that you needed to find you pack," she said finally.

"Yea. Hige, Tsume, and Kiba."

"Right," she paused. "Do you have any idea where they are?"

Toboe's face fell. "No. I slipped on ice and fell into this ravine. I don't know where they are."

"Don't worry, Toboe," she said with a confident smile. "I'll help you find them. Let's go."

* * *

Corny ending, I know... But hey, everyone likes corn! Popcorn, Fritos, Tortillas, corn on the cob...you gotta love it! Now I want Mexican food... 

I hope you enjoyed, I worked hard, as I said before. And I updated quickly, too! Yay!


	4. Chapter 3: Expugnare

I just thought I'd mention this: I know that the human form of the wolves is an illusion, but I'm going to use it as two separate forms, wherein the human form is tangible as well as the wolf form, only because it will suit the story better, being an action fic and all.

(omg, remember that scene where Kiba bit the guy in human form, but he had wolf fangs! That was sooooo awesome!)

* * *

**III**

Caine looked around, her eyes narrowing as she surveyed her surroundings. Something felt...wrong, but everything was fine. There were no markings in the snow, no distinct scents in the air; nothing she saw spoke of danger.

That was the unnerving part.

Toboe was stumbling behind her on a tricky slope; her ears recording the steps he made; the keen, passive method ensuring his safety. She kept him at close range, setting a pace he could keep up with. She was unsure with how to deal with him, as she was unfamiliar in relating with younger and weaker wolves. They talked a bit, mostly about nothing, but sometimes about something. He was handling the cunning terrain with crude skill. That at least eased the she-wolf's nerves a bit.

She didn't smell anything from the other pack. The one Toboe insisted was his pack was faint, a moving scent. She hoped her thoughts weren't true. But what was this feeling! She shook her head angrily, her clipped hair falling back into her face messily.

"What's wrong?"

Caine jumped at the voice. She hadn't realized Toboe had caught up with her. "Nothing," she said quickly, and jumped down the small distance to avoid anymore questions.

It suddenly hit her, right before she hit the snow.

'_Oh SHIT.'_

She landed, rolling to the side immediately in hopes she cleared its range. "Toboe!" she cried, looking up to see that, to her relief, he hadn't jumped yet. He paused, startled and shocked. The split-second reaction however wasn't enough; the dark netting engulfed her.

She growled and untangled her leg, shifting so she could sit normally. "Toboe, don't jump!" She pulled her knife, and tried cutting through the cords.

'_Damn, what are these made of? It won't cut...'_

"Ahh!" She cried out in surprise as she was suddenly pulled back.

"My, my...look what we've got here," said a voice behind her. She looked up, covertly sliding the knife out of view and hoping the surprisingly well-dressed man hadn't seen it.

"Yup, these look good. Take these back to camp, boys. I'm freezing!" The man rubbed his arms in emphasis, moving away and leaving her in the net.

Caine looked for Toboe, and frowned when she saw him standing near a gruff, muscular man. Metal bindings were chained to the younger wolf's wrists. _'At least he's in human form,'_ she thought. Another glance around the area revealed more humans, all dressed similarly, in dark gray, appearing from behind rocks or walking down the steeply sloped pathway out of the gorge. They carried those firearms humans seemed so fond of and other materials used for hunting and surviving.

Someone was working on the net, and she turned her head round and saw it was being opened by a skinny, scarred man. His smell was strange. It wasn't human. In fact, she only caught the human scent when he had approached her. It appeared they found someway of...limiting their scent. Maybe it was some chemical thing...

He grabbed her arm and pulled her out roughly, forcing her to stand. She twisted round, forced him off her arm, than kicked him, letting him fall to the ground. She quickly out maneuvered the other man who rushed forward to attack her.

By now, the men were shouting to each other and scrambling to apprehend the escapee. The only one not making attempts to hinder the violent captive was the man in white who had complained of the cold. He pensively watched his prisoner dance around his men, drawing blood with deft movements and twisting out of harms way; an intricate dance.

Caine ducked low, avoiding another man, and ran forward to get to Toboe.

"ARGH!"

Caine looked over her shoulder and-

"Ooof!" The large, muscular man who had been guarding Toboe before had thrown himself on top of her, successfully stopping her assault and ceasing all other effective forms of resistance.

The man in white walked forward. "Quite the recalcitrant, aren't we?" he said with an annoying grin. Caine continued her ineffective squirming underneath the man. "Good job on stopping her," he rewarded the man.

"Not a problem, sir," the man replied with a broad grin. He stood, pinning Caine's arms behind her back before helping her stand. She struggled and attempted to pull her hands free when they brought over a pair of restricts, similar to Toboe's.

"It's either that or this," the man in white said over the cursing of his subordinate as he struggled to cuff Caine. The she-wolf looked up to see the man take a needle from a bloody-faced man. She stilled.

"I though so," the man said mysteriously. "That wouldn't be very good for you, now would it?" he mused with a grin and turned to exit the ravine.

Caine froze momentarily, ignorant to the fact that the cold metal had clicked and locked round her wrists. Did he know?

* * *

They walked on together, surrounded by the gruff men, and chained by the wrists. Caine and Toboe said little after the initial "are you ok". The men around them joked and laughed. One had tried to frighten Toboe by listing all the possible things that could happen to him. Caine silenced him by slamming her restraints into his face. The man in white told him it was his own fault for provoking her, and her attack went un-avenged...so far.

Toboe looked depressed, and Caine couldn't help but feel responsible for it. After all, it was her who had fallen into their trap. She tried to comfort him, but whenever she tried to talk to him the man behind them, who was far more serious than the rest of the men, hit her between the shoulder blades with the butt of his gun.

So, being that she was surrounded by enemies, unable to comfort her comrade, and thoroughly pissed off, Caine contemplated the cryptic message the man in white left her. He carried a gun like the rest of the hunters, but he didn't act like one of them. He walked quietly in the front of the party, turning around to joke once in a while, but he was clearly in a separate class. From what Caine knew about nobles, she was able to discern that he definitely wasn't one; what noble leaves a city without an airship? He appeared to be a high class member of some sort of crime ring. At least that was what she had surmised from the things she heard from the men. But that didn't matter to her. What worried her the most was that he appeared to know she was a wolf. And if he knew that, than it was logical to assume that he would conclude that Toboe was one, too. If what she thought was true, things would go from bad to worse.

They stopped to rest when the sky began turning pink. The ravine wall had disappeared on the right, opening up the sky to the party. Far below them, a large, frozen lake glittered serenely in the falling sunlight. Caine and Toboe were put near the main fire, but off to the side. They were given some weird goop to eat. Caine and Toboe shared flat looks when it was placed in front of them. The man, a rather loud, crude member who introduced himself as Braig during their march up the ravine, comforted them by telling them to "wipe that look off your faces! We all have to eat this crap!".

The night was warmer than the last, but you could still see your breath. Toboe lay on his back, staring up into the first clear sky he had seen since leaving the castle. The stars looked so much brighter out here than in the city. He supposed that was one of the reasons Kiba didn't like the cities.

"As if! I just shot that bastard!" He heard Braig exclaim from the group around the fire. The men erupted into laughter. All they did was tell stories. Maybe they just wanted to think about better things. He wondered if any of them looked at the stars anymore. Little things like stargazing told a lot about a person. He looked over to Caine; she was sitting up, examining the heavy restraints on her wrists. He sighed, and resumed his study of the sky.

They had talked during "supper". He felt guilty about getting captured and she assured him that if anyone was to blame it was her. Toboe rolled over, pulling the thick blanket over him. The man in white gave them blankets and a tent, but the latter wasn't pitched yet. He said he didn't want to "damage the merchandise by leaving it to freeze".

"Don't fall asleep."

He looked over his shoulder. "Huh?"

Caine was sitting Indian-style, apparently finished with her inspection of the restraints. "If you fall asleep, you'll change."

Toboe, who was new to transformation, smiled confidently. "I won't," he chirped, as shifted so he was in a comfortable position.

Caine was different from the other wolves. He couldn't quite place it. She acted like them, but there was something unique about her. Maybe it was because she was a girl...

"Come on, you two." They looked up to see the muscular man standing above them. "Get into your tent."

Toboe stood and followed the man to their tent. He hoped the others would find them soon.

* * *

Ok, so this has been proofread and posted. I hope it wasn't too boring. I'm bad. I'm update retarded. I'm working in the next chapter.

Anyone notice the cameo appearance? Tell me who he is and what he's from and you get some cute Wolf's Rain stickers! I love stickers! Yay! They're sparkly!

* * *

Toboe: "Caine, you really went at it with those soldiers..."

Caine: "Nobody messes with my little Toby! Or me!" -snarl-

Toboe: "Yay! I have a bodyguard!"

Tsume: "I think you have a fear of handcuffs."

Caine: "They weren't handcuffs! They were thick! And they like, devoured your wrists in cold steel! It was awful!"

Tsume: -smirk-

Caine: "I hate you!"

Toboe: "Old people are so weird..."


End file.
